Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Up 7.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• HPE shares rose 7.5% after Daiwa Securities upgraded the stock to “outperform” and set a $75 price target. Trading volume was about 36% above the daily average.
• Investor enthusiasm was supported by HPE’s $1.2 billion Vultr order for AMD Helios AI rack systems and an improved long-term networking revenue outlook amid strong AI infrastructure demand.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $72.06, although some firms remain cautious. Insiders sold about $18.2 million of shares over the past three months, including transactions under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 7.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after Daiwa Securities Group upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an outperform rating. Daiwa Securities Group now has a $75.00 price target on the stock. Hewlett Packard Enterprise traded as high as $70.29 and last traded at $69.3940. Approximately 28,971,549 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 36% from the average daily volume of 21,363,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.58.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $57.00 price target (down from $63.00) on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $74.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $76.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, EVP Rami Rahim sold 34,456 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.42, for a total value of $2,116,287.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 875,133 shares in the company, valued at $53,750,668.86. This trade represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 17,000 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.91, for a total transaction of $967,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 65,072 shares in the company, valued at $3,703,247.52. This represents a 20.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 301,456 shares of company stock worth $18,193,758 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Here are the key news stories impacting Hewlett Packard Enterprise this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HPE secured a $1.2 billion order from Vultr for AMD Helios AI rack systems to be deployed in U.S. data centers. The deal is HPE’s first order for AMD’s rack-scale AI platform and strengthens its position in high-performance AI infrastructure. HPE raises networking outlook and lands $1.2 billion Vultr AI order
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its long-term networking revenue outlook, citing strong AI-driven demand across data-center networking, routing, security and related markets. HPE also said demand for AI infrastructure continues to exceed supply, supporting expectations for sustained growth. HPE networking outlook gets a boost
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment strengthened after the announcements. Daiwa upgraded HPE to outperform with a $75 target, while Citi raised its target to $92 and maintained a buy rating. Barclays, Truist and Morgan Stanley also lifted their targets, reinforcing the bullish AI and networking thesis. HPE analyst upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain divided after HPE’s sharp rally. Wells Fargo and UBS retained cautious ratings with targets below the recent trading level, while commentary warns that supply constraints and substantial gains may limit near-term upside. HPE fair value estimate and analyst views
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Rami Rahim sold 34,456 shares for approximately $2.1 million. The transaction was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, and he continues to own roughly 875,000 shares, reducing its significance as a bearish signal. SEC insider trading filing

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPE. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the second quarter valued at about $1,027,139,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 4th quarter worth approximately $901,751,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $773,225,000. Elliott Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 47.2% during the 1st quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. now owns 27,421,735 shares of the technology company's stock worth $652,912,000 after purchasing an additional 8,790,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,088,774 shares of the technology company's stock worth $590,435,000 after purchasing an additional 756,972 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.78% of the company's stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $55.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.05. The firm has a market cap of $92.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The technology company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.18. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The business had revenue of $12.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.200-1.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be issued a $0.1425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.69%.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Profile

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company NYSE: HPE is a global technology company that provides information technology products, services and solutions for businesses, governments and other organizations. Its offerings are designed to help customers build, manage and secure data center, cloud and edge-computing environments.

HPE's portfolio includes enterprise servers, high-performance computing systems, data storage, networking equipment, software and technology consulting services. The company also provides hybrid cloud and as-a-service solutions through HPE GreenLake, allowing customers to access and manage computing, storage, data protection and other IT capabilities through a flexible consumption model.

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